Recipe: Quick Orange Glazed Chicken

Adapted from a recipe for "Easy Orange Glazed Chicken" in The America's Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook, 2012, p. 153. Prepared for dinner on, September 26, 2012.  Makes 3-6 servings.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6-8 ounces each)
Salt and black pepper
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon orange juice
2 tablespoons apricot preserves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Fresh parsley

Instructions 

1. Mince fresh parsley to make 1 tablespoon.
2. Whisk together 1 cup orange juice, apricot preserves, and Dijon mustard.
3. Trim the chicken breasts of large fat deposits and pound them, if necessary, so they have a uniform thickness.
4. Add oil to a large skillet (large enough to hold all of your chicken) over medium high heat.
5. Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and black pepper.
6. When the oil in the skillet starts to shimmer, add the seasoned chicken breasts and cook until the first side is lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
7. Flip the chicken and add the orange juice mixture.
8. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 8 minutes.
9. While the chicken simmers, whisk together 1 tablespoon orange juice and the cornstarch.
10. Whisk the cornstarch mixture into the skillet and continue to simmer gently until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160°.
11. Stir in the parsley, season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Whisk together orange juice (fresh squeezed would be best), Dijon mustard, and apricot preserves. Note that I substituted orange marmalade for the apricot preserves because that's what was in the refrigerator.

Trim the chicken and pound them, if necessary, to a uniform thickness.

Lightly brown the chicken, then flip and add the glaze.

Simmer for 8 minutes then thicken the glaze with a mixture of orange juice and cornstarch. Continue simmering until the internal temperature is 160°.